US dental care crisis: It should not be a luxury to keep your teeth in your mouth

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As chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, I recently held a hearing about the dental care crisis in the United States.

Ahead of that hearing, I asked Americans from across the country to share their experiences with dental care in our country.

The responses poured in from people who told us: "I am in constant pain," "I can't afford dental care," "I can't find a dentist," "My insurance won’t cover the dental procedures I need," and "I worry about my children’s health."

One person from Georgia told me that she has had temporary caps on her two front teeth after breaking them as a child. For 15 years, she hasn’t been able to afford permanent replacements. Her caps flake off into her food every time she eats.

WISCONSIN GOV. EVERS ADDRESSES DENTAL CARE SHORTAGES WITH NEW LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE

A gentleman from Wisconsin shared that it will cost him $1,000 per tooth to get crowns to cover his cracked and broken teeth. He has dental insurance, but they won’t cover the procedure.

These are the type of responses you might expect if we were living in a third world country. But we are living in the richest country in the history of the world.

Today in America, nearly 70 million adults and nearly 8 million children have no